What happens when I let the language do the thinking for me?

The Haze is Coming…. 来たよ来たよ～

One of the craziest things about living in Singapore is the haze. Normally, the air quality in Singapore is OK, but in the dry season, particularly between June and August, there is a huge spike of pollution that pours in from Indonesia. Last June, the PSI level hit an all time high at 401 and there were flocks of people especially with young families escaping Singapore. We actually did the same and I took the kids to Japan for a week, ready to extend the trip if needed. Luckily, the PSI came back down to about 100, and we were back.

At 100, you can smell the haze in the air and the air appears almost yellow and my throat starts to tickle, but at 400, you can barely see the building next door. Last year, there was panic and all stores were sold out of the 3M masks. The shortest line Marc could find was 40 minutes, and he went to a neighborhood, hidden pharmacy. Air purifiers were sold out for months.

This year, we already saw sign of some haze in March, so I ran out and bought three air purifiers. We’ll see how it goes this year.

Here’s a great world map of the air pollution index. If you have young children and are concerned about the air quality, it may be good to check it out for up to date information. Just a sample image from the website posted here. http://aqicn.org/map/world/